Hi Dave,
I'll expand a bit on what's already been said. Not because any of it is wrong, just trying to help you get the picture.

This is basically how the code gets from PBP syntax to a .hex file in your chip:
IDE -> Compiler -> assembler -> device programmer -> PIC

1) IDE. Integrated Development Enviroment (a fancy word for a text editor on steroids) This is where you actually write your PBP program, it can be Notepad or MicroCode Studio, which is included with PicBasicPRO when you buy it. The later is recomended but not needed.

2) Compiler. This is PicBasicPro - it compiles or "translates" your BASIC statements and commands into assembly language that can then be converted to a .hex file by the...

3) Assembler. There are two assemblers available, one comes with PBP and one comes with MPLAB. There are times when one needs to use the one over the other but lets not get into that at the moment. The assembler is what takes the assembler listing that the compiler produced and generates a .hex file that can be programmed into the PIC by the....

4) Device programmer. This is the hardware devices and it's associated software used to get the .hex file fromt tha harddrive on the computer into the actual PIC chip. As you probably can see here it doesn't know or care how you got that .hex file.


This may sound like a lot but if you use the MicroCodeStudio IDE it all happens behind the scene. You type in your BASIC program and hit the compile button and out comes a .hex file ready to be programmed into your PIC by the PICKit1 or any other device programmer supporting the PIC-chip you're using.

If you're lucky the PicKit1 is even directly supported by MicroCodeStudio. IF that is the case you don't even need to launch the PicKit1 software to get the .hex file into the chip - MicroCodeStudio handles that for you as well. One single click get you from BASIC code in the IDE to a programmed chip.

/Henrik.